My seven year old grandson asked me, “Papa, what is your most important job?” Well, I thought that’s easy, “It’s being your Papa!”

His response was so simple and yet profound. He said with a bit of, you should really know this answer, in his voice… “No, Papa it’s to love everyone.” His answer has stuck with me. For some reason it has etched itself in my mind. Over and over I think… My most important job is to love everyone. Everyone includes even those people who I really do not want to love.

God agrees with my grandson! I know, maybe it’s the other way around. The Apostle John said, “For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.” 1 John 3:11 (NIV) It’s clear that from the beginning, God’s most important job has not changed.

God also makes it clear that our ability to love is sourced in him. God is the source of love. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8 (NIV) Experiencing his love and forgiveness on a personal level makes us able to love and forgive ourselves and  others.  Because God is perfect in his love he can give us the ability to love beyond our human limitation, to love with his kind of love, a perfect, selfless and unconditional love.

By Mike Woodard
used by permission

February 14th is Valentine’s Day. We often think about romantic love but how about making the effort to expand the circle, fulfill your most important job… love everyone. The beginning might be to experience God’s love and forgiveness personally. This prayer might help you express your desire…

God I want to personally experience your love and forgiveness. I know I have lived independently of you. I want to invite you to come into my life to be the one who guides me and gives me eternal life. Thank you for sending Jesus to die on the cross for my sins. Thank you that I can trust you to direct me and to give me the strength to be the kind of person you want me to be. Amen

If you prayed this to express your desire to God, he has heard you. You can be confident that he has responded to your faith and you can be confident that:

1.       God’s Spirit now lives inside you                 Revelations 3:20
2.       Your sins are forgiven                                   Colossians 1:13-14
3.       You are a child of God                                   John 1:12
4.       You received eternal life                              I John 5:11-13
5.       You will begin to experience God’s love and forgiveness in your life and relationshi

FURTHER READING

Love for a Lifetime by Karen Woodard

I Corinthians 13 ~ The Way of Love

Why is my Marriage in a State of Conflict?

Romance – Keeping it Alive

The post Most Important Job can be found at Thoughts about God.

The world and all it contains was created for one purpose: to showcase the grandeur of God’s Son.

In Jesus, the nature of God is magnificently and perfectly revealed; He is the “express image” of God (Hebrews 1:3 KJV). Yet to gaze upon Christ is also to see God’s pattern for man. As we seek to be like Him, we discover that our need was created for His sufficiency. We also see that, once the redemptive nature of Christ begins to triumph in our lives, mercy begins to triumph in the world around us.

How will we recognize revival when it comes? Behold, here is the awakening we seek: men and women, young and old, all conformed to Jesus. When will revival begin? It starts the moment we say yes to becoming like Him; it spreads to others as Christ is revealed through us.

Yet to embrace Christ’s attitude toward mercy is but a first step in our spiritual growth. The process of being truly conformed to Christ compels us into deeper degrees of transformation. Indeed, just as Jesus learned obedience through the things that He suffered (Hebrews 5:8), so also must we. And it is here, even while we stand in intercession or service to God, that Christ gives us the gift of woundedness.

“Gift?” you ask. Yes, to be wounded in the service of mercy and, instead of closing our hearts, allow woundedness to crown love, is to release God’s power in redemption. The steadfast prayer of the wounded intercessor holds great sway upon the heart of God.

We cannot become Christlike without being wounded. You see, even after we come to Christ, we carry encoded within us preset limits concerning how far we will go for love, and how much we are willing to suffer for redemption. When God allows us to be wounded, He exposes those human boundaries and reveals what we lack of His nature.

The path narrows as we seek true transformation. Indeed, many Christians fall short of Christ’s stature because they have been hurt and offended by people. They leave churches discouraged, vowing never again to serve or lead or contribute because, when they offered themselves, their gift was marred by unloving people. To be struck or rejected in the administration of our service can become a great offense to us, especially as we are waiting for, and even expecting, a reward for our good efforts.

Yet wounding is inevitable if we are following Christ. Jesus was both “marred” (Isaiah 52:14) and “wounded” (Zechariah 13:6), and if we are sincere in our pursuit of His nature, we will suffer as well. How else will love be perfected?

Let us beware. We either become Christlike and forgive the offenders or we will enter a spiritual time warp where we abide continually in the memory of our wounding. Like a systemic disease, the hurtful memories infect every aspect of our existence. In truth, apart from God, the wounding that life inflicts is incurable. God has decreed that only Christ in us can survive.

By Francis Frangipane
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

1. A Bible on How God Demonstrates His Love
2. A Bible Study on Waiting on God
3. The Names of God – A Bible stud

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/

Francis Frangipane
info@frangipane.org
www.frangipane.org
www.icitc.org
www.arrowbookstore.com

The post The Gift of Woundedness can be found at Thoughts about God.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”  (1 John 1:9).

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

Forgiveness brings you close to the heart of God and enlarges your capacity to love.

Jesus prayed on the cross, “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they are doing.” Be blessed as you look to Jesus and receive healing from any resentment or unforgiveness you carry.

Ask Jesus to help you forgive yourself. He removes your transgressions from you as far as the east is from the west. Feel His cleansing washing you and making you whole. Be blessed to be released from condemnation, self-judgment, or self-punishment. You are pure and blameless in His sight.

Ask Jesus to help you forgive anyone who has hurt you. Forgiving others doesn’t mean that what they did was OK or right. Forgiveness brings complete freedom to your heart and lets God be the judge of all things. Allow God’s grace to free you from the bondage of resentment and bitterness.

Ask your Father if you hold any bitterness or anger against Him about what He has allowed in your life. If painful events have distorted your image of God, receive His healing love and compassion. May your spirit and soul see those things from God’s point of view through His spiritual insight and understanding

(Colossians 1).

May the grace of God do the deep work of forgiveness in you. The Lord says though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool (Isaiah 1:18). Be blessed to choose to live from that freedom.

Be blessed in the name of Jesus who paid the complete price for sin.

By Sylvia Gunter
Used by Permission

From: Blessing For Life: Word Of Hope and Healing (p. 28)
© 2017 by Sylvia Gunter and Elizabeth Gunter.

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/

FURTHER READING

Forgiveness is Good for Your Health

The Power of Forgiveness

Instant Forgiveness; Lingering Consequences

The post Forgiveness can be found at Thoughts about God.

“Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.”Proverbs 17:9

No one likes to be reminded of their mistakes. An insensitive word. A foolish act that costs both money and credibility. The time we let anger control us.

Let’s face it — we all sin.

So, we experience great joy when we understand that God forgives our evil thoughts and actions. The psalmist writes,

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:11-12).

Unfortunately, while we like to have our wrong deeds erased, as humans, we tend to hold on to the hurt that others cause us. Sometimes, we like the attention. So, we nurse a wound, repeat the story, and gain support from others about the poor treatment we received. Other times, we like the power we gain when we hold a past mistake over someone else’s head.

Each day provides plentiful opportunities to take offense. A friend ignores you, a stranger rudely takes advantage of you, a family member speaks unkindly to you. But, we can choose how we respond.

Covering an offense costs us. Seeking love, more than being right, requires humility and grace. Releasing the offender requires forgiveness. Yet, the reward outweighs the cost. We discover that freedom comes when we “let it go.”

God shows us the way. God loved us when we were, to others, unlovable, so that we could love others in turn. He forgave us, and gives us the power to forgive.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the sound advice this proverb gives me. Help me not to be touchy or super-sensitive. Help me to see beyond the offense to the person. I want to value relationships more than being right. Show me how to let it go. Amen.

Thought — If you have allowed some offense to fester in your heart, confess it to God. Ask Him to show you how to move forward.

Read: The Power of Forgiveness

By Suzanne Benner
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

The Stumbling Block of Unforgiveness

Victory over Unforgiveness 

Prayer of Forgiveness and Release

Follow Us On:  Facebook  • ‘X’ Twitter  •  Instagram  • Pinterest

The post Let it Go can be found at Thoughts about God.

“He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” Psalm 103:12

Do you ever think that you have sinned so much that God can’t forgive you?  You aren’t the only one.  We at Thoughts About God receive so many prayer requests asking us to pray for them because they have been involved in many sinful activities and they are sure that God will never forgive them.

You know what—that is a lie from Satan.

When Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of all our sins, he died for all of our sins, everyone’s sins—past present and future. However, we won’t experience His love and forgiveness until we confess them and turn from them. 

“ But if we confess our sins to him he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins.” 1 John 1:9

The Bible doesn’t say God will forgive only some of our sins, it says He will forgive us and cleanse us from every wrong.

When I was 30 years old, a conference speaker spoke on this topic and suggested we write a list of all the sins (confess) we could think of on a pad of paper and when we couldn’t think of anymore, we were told wrote the verse 1 John 1:9 over top of the list.

What freedom to know that one’s sins and guilt are erased.  “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” Psalm 103:12

Do you want to experience God’s love and forgiveness?

Action point:  On a piece of paper, ask God to show you all the sins He wants you to confess.  As they come to your mind, write them down.  When no more sins come to mind, write 1 John 1:9 across them.  Then know for sure that ALL your sins are forgiven.  If you start feeling guilty about them again, know that it is the Enemy harassing you.  God won’t convict you of those sins again.

Then ask Jesus to come into your life and be the director of your life from now on.

“Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.”

If you sin again, confess that sin and claim His forgiveness.  You may find the article, “Spiritual Oxygen”  helpful.

God has forgiven your sins, past present and future!

We would love to hear if you followed through with the action point.  Just fill out the form and send it to us.

Another helpful article is: How to Walk in the Spirit

By Katherine Kehler
Used by Permission

Further Reading

• Going Deeper with God
• Bible Studies
• Salvation Explained

Follow Us On:  Facebook  • Twitter  •  Instagram  •  Pinterest

The post God Forgave Our Sins, Past, Present and Future can be found at Thoughts about God.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

Mona Shriver was taken completely by surprise. Gary, her husband of 20 years confessed to a long-term affair.  She was devastated.

Mona says, “I had to totally rely on God because there were a lot of days that I didn’t think I was going to make it.”

Through those difficult months, Mona learned that whatever happens in her life, whatever her circumstance, God would–and did sustain her!

Was it painful?  Yes, it was.  And there were many times when Mona had to constantly remind herself of God’s promise in the Bible: “My grace is sufficient for you.”  She read it over and over.

It took some time and a lot of work, but Gary and Mona’s marriage was eventually healed.  And today they come alongside other couples in an adultery recovery ministry. God’s grace is sufficient for you!

Unfaithful, Rebuilding Trust after Infidelity by Mona Shriver: http://www.hopeandhealing.us

The Shriver’s have ministered to couples in adultery recovery through Hope and Healing Ministries support groups since 1998.

by Vonette Bright
used by permission

FURTHER READING

**Marital Affairs

Rebuilding After a Wife’s Affair

When Your Husband Has an Affair

Are YOU having an Affair?

Starting Over

**Marriage Problems

My Husband No Longer Loves Me and is Going to Leave

What Pornography Brings to a Relationship

My Husband isn’t Meeting my Needs!

Elma’s Story – Nothing Left To Give
“My husband didn’t know how to acknowledge my feelings and show me the support I needed.”

Why is my Marriage in a State of Conflict?

How Can my Spouse and I Get on the Same Page?

Hope for Those without Hope

In-Laws – Stress or Blessing?

**Making Your Marriage Stronger

Two Keys to a Happy Marriage

Praying for your Husband

Praying for your Wife

Building Your Husband’s Self-Esteem

Faithful to Your Man

Adhesive Qualities in a Marriage – Glue only comes in one flavor

Getting a Proper Foundation for Marriage, Family and Life by Ed Becker

The Trust Factor

Love for a Lifetime

Grace to Keep on Yielding – A story of how a couple chose to compromise and yield their wills during a simple visit to a garden centre.

God Renewed My Marriage

What’s Love Got To Do With It? by Norm Miller

The post Nothing Else But God can be found at Thoughts about God.

2 Samuel 11: 1-5

“Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.2 Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. 3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. 5 The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, I am pregnant.”

Temptations can come at any time, but they are especially dangerous in periods of weakness because that’s when we’re more prone to yield. The Scriptures are filled with descriptions of men and women who sinned against the Lord in moments of vulnerability. These true stories are given to us for our instruction so we can learn from the mistakes of others. ( 1 Corinthians 10:11).

While temptations come in a variety of forms, they follow a similar pattern. David’s sin is a good example of this. His eye looked, his mind desired, and his will acted. Resistance is difficult in the best of times, but it’s even more of a struggle during periods of anger, emptiness, idleness, or isolation—and that was the case for David, who should have been in battle instead of in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 11:1). At the end of the day, no matter what’s creating the vulnerability, each person is responsible for his or her own actions.

In times of weakness, remember the acronym “HALT.” Don’t let yourself become too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. Most importantly, fix your attention on the Lord and draw strength from Him through prayer. Use Scripture to guard your mind, and the Lord will give you victory over temptation.

By Dr. Charles Stanley
Used by Permission

Further Reading

•  Feelings, Forgiveness and Peace | by Dr. Muriel Larson
•  The Power of Forgiveness | by Dr. Henry Brandt
•  Salvation Explained

The post Moments of Weakness can be found at Thoughts about God.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

Living in Tennessee, we usually do not expect to have a lot of snow in the winter. Sure, temperatures will get below freezing for a few days, but a big snowfall is, most times, out of the picture. This year, unexpectedly, a large winter storm covered multiple southern states. In just a few days, we now have snow everywhere. Walking outside, you cannot tell what was the street from the sidewalk or yard. Everything in sight seems to be turned to white. While this is a beautiful sight, it is pretty funny to see everyone going out to their cars to try and get the snow off before it piles up too high.

The reason this is so funny is because people have tried all kinds of tactics to get the snow off the windshields of their cars, but to many of their surprises, no matter how hard they tried to blow the show off or push it off, their windshields were still covered. See, what most people likely did not realize was that under all the snow was a thick sheet of ice. They could snow blow the snow off their cars all day long, but that ice underneath was not going to budge. This meant that their windshields would still be covered. It was only when people started attacking the ice first with the scrapper that visions of the windshields would start to come into focus. Because the ice was so thick, it would take quite some effort to scrap that ice off the windshield and it took some dedication.

Thinking back on this, the Lord taught me a valuable lesson. Many times, in our lives today, when we are struggling with something, we want a quick fix solution. We try and snow blow off our issues by taking some medication, reading some books, or just getting some extra sleep. Although these things are effective at helping the side effects of what we are struggling with, the root problem is still there. The ice will not budge.

The only way to break the ice and truly be set free from our sins and issues is to give them to Jesus and to ask Him to break the ice in our life.

This is not always a quick fix and may involve a good deal of scrapping. Jesus will dig down into root of our issue/sin which may be scary and take time to understand and handle. He will convict us of what we truly need to change in our lives and then lead us to the truth. This process of scrapping out the ice in our lives is not always fun or easy, but in the end, we are set free from our sins and our issues. Jesus restores our vision and guides us on the path to victory. We are able to move on from the ice holding us down and walk into the warm light of His grace and truth. Allow Jesus to scrap the ice out of your life today and be set free once and for all from the sins and issues you are struggling with.

By Bradley Andrew Stubbs
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

• Eternal Love
• Fully Surrender to the Lord

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/

The post You Cannot Snow Blow Away Your Issues can be found at Thoughts about God.

“Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine and good things in others. Think about all the things you can praise God for and be glad about.” Philippians 4:8

There is a book called Forgive for Good: A Proven Prescription for Health and Happiness. I read a review recently. After five years of research, they found that people who forgive face decreased stress and fewer physical symptoms of stress. People who forgive experience greater physical vitality. People who forgive feel less hurt and anger.

They have concluded that the problem with grudges is that each time we think about the hurt or anger at the heart of the grudge, it’s a reminder of the helplessness we felt when it occurred.

Here are nine steps they recommend for moving towards forgiveness:

1. Know exactly how you feel about what happened.

2. Forgiveness is for you. Make a commitment to do what you need to feel better.

3. Seek peace, not necessarily reconciliation, with the person(s), who hurt you.

4. Get perspective and recognize that distress comes from hurt feelings thoughts, and not what hurt you in the first place.

5. When you feel upset, redirect your thoughts to that which is positive.

6. Give up expecting things from other people that they choose not to give you.

7. Instead of mentally replaying the hurt, seek new ways to get what you want.

8. Focus on goodness, love and beauty. Remaining in the hurt only gives power to the person who hurt you.

9. Rewrite the story of the grievance in your mind so you can focus on the heroic choice to forgive.

Seems to me that these steps are the very thing the Apostle Paul was telling us in the verse in Philippians 4:8.

Someone said, “The practice of forgiveness is the most important contribution to healing the world.”  What do you think?

It begins with us. How about you – holding on to any grudges? Forgiveness is good for your health! Want to help heal the world?  It begins with you.

Father, You have given us all the principles for our health and the healing of the world. You know that we always see how others need to change, but it is our attitudes that will begin to effect change. Your grace is sufficient for each one of us. Thank You that Your Holy Spirit will give us the will and the power to forgive wholeheartedly.  Amen.

by Katherine Kehler
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

• The Power of Forgiveness
• The Stumbling Block of Unforgiveness
• The Secret of Forgiveness

Follow Us On:  Facebook  • ‘X’ Twitter  •  Instagram  • Pinterest

The post Forgiveness is Good for Your Health can be found at Thoughts about God.

Have you ever played Hide and Seek with a two-year-old?

You close your eyes and count to ten, turn around and you can see his feet sticking out from under the blanket. It’s like that when we try to hide from God. We think we’re being so clever, but God just sees right through us.

We know that we are forgiven. So why do we try to hide from God? There are so many reasons:

• • We hide because we’re ashamed.
  • We hide because of our pride.
  • We hide because we want to pretend that we are better than we are.
  • We hide because we doubt God’s love.
  • We hide because we want to punish ourselves.
  • We hide because we have not yet forgiven ourselves.
  • We worry that there is a limit to his forgiveness, and that this time his love might have run out.

Trust in God’s forgiveness — that is where true freedom lies.

In Matthew 18, Peter asks Jesus how often he should forgive his brother. Jesus replies, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

If we humans — frail, limited, and full of envy — are expected to forgive 77 times, how much more limitless is God’s forgiveness for us?

Psalm 103:11-13 says, For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Shame is one of Satan’s greatest tools. He lies to us and says, “Look at your life, you’re no example. How could you ever share the Gospel?” He whispers that God doesn’t really love us. He tells us to stay quiet, stay small, and hope that God doesn’t notice our awful sin. But we don’t need to live under the weight of shame.

One of my favorite verses is 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

This verse and others tell me that I have a complete new identity now that I am in Christ: in God’s eyes, I am pure, holy, honorable — utterly forgiven and loved. God already sees me the way I will be in eternity — perfectly delivered from all sin, fully in God’s image (1 John 3:1-4).

The next time you want to play hide and seek with God, ask him to remind you of who you are in his sight.

By Claire Colvin
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

• The Way to Know God
• The Everlasting God
• How to know God personally

The post Loose the Weight of Shame can be found at Thoughts about God.